Barack is back: Obama wins another term

With 1,651,611 votes reported as counted in the state, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are leading the Republican challengers 50.31 percent to 47.68 percent, according to the Colorado Secretary of State website.

Libertarians Gary Johnson and James P. Gray have collected just over 1 percent of the votes, leading all third party candidates so far.

8:10 p.m.: We have the first real change in presidential results since the Colorado Secretary of State’s office began reporting results. We’re starting to see why Colorado is such a controversial swing state, as Obama’s early 53 percent shrink to just more than 50 percent. By my count, 24 counties out of 64 are reporting, including the crucial swing counties of Arapahoe, Jefferson and Douglas, so we’re beginning to get a sense of which way Colorado might swing nationally. So far, looks like Obama is slightly ahead. Nevertheless, it will be close, so keep checking back for updates. —David Accomazzo

8:20 p.m.: A national update: National media seem to be calling the swing states of New Hampshire, Nevada and Wisconsin for Obama. This is no surprise, as most smart money pre-election would have bet on those three states going blue. It’s still early. The bigger swing states, Ohio and Florida, are still too close to call. Virginia results show Romney with a lead, but as Micah Cohen from the New York Times FiveThirtyEight blog pointed out, the state’s northern suburbs, which lean Democratic, have barely reported. Expect the gap to close as more results come in. As more and more swing states go towards the president, Romney’s chances for winning become more and more of a long shot. Check back for more updates. —David Accomazzo

8:59 p.m.: Looks like Sedgwick County, the northeastern most county in the state, is the first county in Colorado to fully report their election results. Savor this honor, Sedgwick County’s 2,300 residents, you deserve it. —David Accomazzo

9:03 p.m.: CBS News calling North Carolina for Romney. The first swing state to be reported to go for Romney, the Republican campaign must be thankful for some great news. It’s looking bad in Ohio for Romney, but Florida is still a toss-up, although the president is slightly leading. If Romney wins both, he should be in good shape. —David Accomazzo

9:15 p.m.: Well, according to CBS, Ohio goes to Obama. And as Ohio goes, so does the nation. Obama wins, and Boulder Weekly concurs. Another four years for the president. —David Accomazzo

9:21 p.m.: “David,” you ask with bated breath, “why are you and virtually every other blogger/reporter/newscaster with a firm grip on reality calling the election for Obama even though it’s still early and Romney is winning the popular vote?” Pull up a seat, kid. A little primer on electoral math should be you understand. (These numbers are from www.electoral-vote.com, which I endorse as one of the best polling websites out there.)

If you look at the last five elections, going back to 1992, you can draw
some conclusions that make understanding the election results a
little easier. Thirteen states — Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas,
Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Texas Utah and Wyoming — have gone Republican five out of five
times, which all but guarantees 102 electoral votes for Romney. Eighteen
states, plus the District of Columbia (California, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusettes, Michigan,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon Pennslyvania, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin), have voted Democratic in every
presidential election since 1992. That’s 242 votes. A candidate needs 270 votes to win. Let’s look at what that means for the president. Obama needed to get just 28 votes from swing states in order to take the election.

There were dozens of combinations of swing states that could have made that happen, but most pollsters were thinking that Ohio would be the “tipping point state” — that is, whichever candidate won Ohio would win the election. As we reported earlier in the night, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Nevada leaned towards the president early in the night. That’s 20 electors for the president, bringing his total to 262, just eight away from victory. That means if one of the remaining larger swing states — Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia or Ohio — went for the president, he would win. Ohio’s 18 delivered the president a victory with 280 votes. All that remains to be seen is the acceptance speech. —David Accomazzo

9:55 p.m.: Time for some marijuana updates. Amendment 64 was leading in the polls heading into tonight, but I don’t think anyone expected this sort of blowout. As of now, 53 percent of Colorado voters have voted for it compared to 47 percent against. That’s an enormous margin of victory. There’s no realistic way it could lose, which makes Colorado the first state in the history of the good ol’ U.S. of A. to legalize dope.

Or will there be a three-way tie? Or a two-way one? The hipsters in Oregon and Washington also voted on legalizing marijuana. Oregon looks like it will pass the joint without puffing, while Washington will inhale twice.

That puts Colorado and Washington in a tie for the honorific of first state to legalize it. Should be remembered with pride 50 years from now when marijuana prohibition is nothing but a hazy memory. —David Accomazzo

10:51 p.m.: Here’s an update on state races from Boulder Weekly‘s Elizabeth Miller:

While results are still rolling in, the buzz at the Democratic election night watch
party at the Boulder Theater is for a Democratic majority in the state house and
state senate. House District 10 Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, who defeated
Republican challenger William Eckert, would become majority leader if Dems take the
Colorado House.

“We’ve all be working for weeks and weeks and months and months to get where we are
tonight — where we can celebrate,” says incumbent state Rep. Claire Levy (HD13),
who won her race against Republican Adam Ochs. The results around the state and the
wave that seemed, as of 8 p.m., to be crossing the nation, she says, indicate that
“hope beats cynicism and the truth beats lies.”

She put renewable energy and voter suppression laws at the top of the state house to
do list.

Colorado’s state senate may also see Democrats in the majority and Sen. Rollie Heath
(District 18), who successfully defended his seat against Republican Barry Thoma,
says the top priorities will be civil unions and an asset bill, as well as his
continued focus on education funding.

“This race was about making sure that we kept things positive, said State Rep.
Jonathan Singer (D-House District 11), who has also won his race against Republican
challenger Ellyn Hilliard. Singer was in a suit and tie at the Democrat’s watch
party and says he’s not going to stop working and take his tie off until the civil
unions bill passes.